Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Star Trek

~ The Guests/Actors ~

Armin Shimmerman & Michael Westmore – These two were on stage together, not the best combination. Armin was his usual funny self. There weren’t many questions for Westmore.

Avery Brooks – I always enjoy seeing & hearing Avery on stage. Such a great joy! A fan asked about a rumor that Avery would co-star with Sylvester Stallone in another Rambo movie. Avery laughed and said not to believe everything you read online. He was asked many questions about his role as Hawk in Spencer for Hire. One fan asked about his hairstyle in DS9. Avery replied that the reason he had hair for the first few seasons was because Paramount wanted to make sure that fans didn’t confuse him with the other bald captain

Jonathan Frakes & Brent Spiner – These two were great together. They played off of each other perfectly. Anytime a fan would comment that one of them was cute/attractive, the other one would feign irritation and jealously. They cracked a lot of jokes about old baldy (Stewart) and did their impersonations of him.

They also commented about the bad movies/series like Nemesis. Voyager was referred to as “Trek-lite” and Enterprise was “zero-calorie Trek”. Brent was also asked to explain the 3 versions of the script for Nemesis. He revealed that the first version Paramount didn’t like but Stewart did. The second version Paramount liked but Stewart didn’t. And the third version became Nemesis “which you all didn’t go see”.

Robert Foxworth – Robert was very charming. He was asked questions about his roles in DS9 and Atlantis.

Michael & Denise Okuda – Michael & Denise were instrumental at arranging for the Christie’s auction. They explained to us that the warehouses full of Trek items were like that last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Paying for storage for many warehouses similarly filled with Trek stuff was getting to be too expensive. The items would have been trashed had they not convinced Paramount to let the fans buy them. They spoke to us briefly about the Christie’s auction and the process they went thru to choose & categorize the items for auction.

Jeffrey Combs, Marc Alaimo & Aron Eisenberg – Aron was late as usual. Jeff & Marc gave him a hard time when he finally showed up. Jeff tried to sneak up on Aron just before he walked on stage. A brief chase ensued. It was hilarious. Both Jeff and Marc were great to see and hear on stage. Aron sat in his chair waiting for a fan to ask him a question. Periodically he would throw in a comment when the other guys were speaking. It was a comedy routine, although Aron would probably have been better off with Armin Shimmerman instead.

Connor Trinner & Dominic Keating – This is the first time I saw these two on stage. Connor seemed quiet and bored. Dominic on the other hand was a hyper-active energizer bunny. He was bouncing around so much and carrying on so much that I lost interest.

Kate Mulgrew – Kate much shorter in person than I remember her. I believe she was wearing flats, so she appeared shorter. She was fun to listen to and made a lot of comments about being a strong woman and role model. We also learned from Kate that her mother had just recently passed and it seemed to me that she was still cooping with the loss. Anytime a fan would express sympathy for her loss, she seemed to get quiet. There were a few fans that mention how Kate and her role as Janeway, changed their lives. Jim & I moaned each time…we had memories of the Cleveland convention years ago when every other fan had a “you saved my life Janeway” story.

Nichelle Nichols, George Takei & Walter Koenig – Their talk was very interesting…

The highlight was a question asked by a fan about the camps that George and his family were held at after Pearl Harbor. George’s response progressed on to the political arena where he commented about the current president and his administration’s handling of the war in the Middle East.

Nichelle also chimed in to comment about our civil liberties and our obligations to not allow the terrorists to win. She was so emotionally moved by the response she gave that she had to walk off stage to compose herself. George and Walter continued to answer other questions during her absence.

Walter seemed like he didn’t want to be there. When asked about getting a star on Hollywood Blvd, he seemed not to care. Apparently the money had already been raised for the star, but the request was rejected by the committee stating there’s been “enough of Trek” and not worth adding another Trek actor to the Walk. Nichelle encouraged the fans to write in and request a reversal of the decision. Walter indicated that “bothering” the committee people with such a campaign would just entrench them more.

Walter sat slumped in his chair most of the time with a bored look on his face. His answers were short. At one point while George was giving a long response to a fan question, Walter pulled out his program book, paged through it, and looked at his watch. Then he got up from his chair, all while George is still talking from the chair next to him, and walked to the back of the stage to talk to someone behind the curtain. He seemed to have a few words with the person(s) backstage before returning to his chair.

After George completed his long response, Adam Malin came out and announced that their time was up. Nichelle came back on stage and all three of them began to sing “God Bless America”

Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner – Each of these guys had time on stage by themselves before they appeared together. Leonard complained that Bill was not a nice guy and we really didn’t need to hear him talk. Bill also jokingly commented that he should have the stage all to himself without Leonard. But they were great together! They played so well off of each other. Bill making fun of himself and commenting about the Celebrity Roast. Jim was able to ask Leonard a very good question about the pilot episode.

James Darren – James was great to see in person and great to hear on stage. There were many questions asked about his role on Time Tunnel. He sang happy birthday to someone in the audience.

Jolene Blalock – Jolene did attend the convention and even began signing autographs. But apparently she was a bit under the weather and her condition worsen as the day went on. When the time came for her to appear on stage, she was not in good shape. The decision was made to get her medical attention instead of putting her on stage. Oh well.

Majel & Eugene Roddenberry Jr – Rod had to leave the convention early after hearing of the death of a close friend. Majel was looking a bit rough around the edges. She was being moved around from room to room by wheel chair. She seemed coherent but with a failing memory. I was told that she had suffered a few mini-strokes. Majel and Rod had a table in the dealer’s room. The Roddenberry table was one of the highlights of the dealer’s room. It had top-notch props from all the series.

Carel Struycken – Majel taught all of us how to pronounce Mr Homn’s name properly. Carel was very quiet and soft spoken. He answered a few questions about his roles in Trek and Addam’s Family.

Scott Bakula – Scott appeared on stage in long shoulder length hair. He was very funny. He poked fun at Shatner a little. When asked how he prepared for his role as Archer, he commented that since he was technically the “first captain”, every one else (Shatner, Stewart etc) would have to copy him! There were many questions from people asking about Enterprise and Quantum Leap. When asked why Enterprise was cancelled he indicated that he didn’t know the real reason but his guess was that they were on the wrong station!